Rice, who is a professor at Stanford and a Hoover Institute fellow, told The Hill in January through a spokeswoman that she was not interested in Boxer's seat or any elected office.

"It's not even a consideration," said Georgia Godfrey, Rice's chief of staff. "She's happy here at Stanford."

Even with the new poll, Godfrey told the Sacramento Bee this week that her boss has not moved from her original position.

"I have heard of the poll," Godfrey told the Bee. "No change on her position about running for Senate."

Mark DiCamillo of Field Research told the Bee that he was surprised by Rice's overall appeal to California Democrats and Republicans in the poll, despite her ties to the Bush administration.

"Not only does she do extremely well among Republicans, but she does considerably better than any of the Republicans among Democrats, and she is at the top of the list among nonpartisan voters," said DiCamillo. "I don't want to say too much about her because she's probably not even a candidate."

Bill Whalen, a Republican strategist and a research fellow at the Hoover Institute, told the San Jose Mercury News that while Rice's absence is good news for Harris – who remains the clear Democratic favorite – it also means the field for Boxer's seat is far from being settled.

"This just shows you how wide open politics are in this state right now," said Whalen. "It underscores the tail wind (Harris) has in this election."

After Rice and Harris, the poll put U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez at 39 percent; California Secretary of State Alex Padilla at 38 percent; U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier at 36 percent; U.S. Rep. John Garamendi at 36 percent; and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at 35 percent.
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